Seu Fong Ao, of St John’s Park, jailed for scamming elderly woman out of debit card funds

A cruel con man has been convicted for his part in an elaborate bank card scam which fleeced elderly Sydney women of thousands of dollars in cash. Read what happened in court.

Seu Fong Ao, 65, of St John's Park, outside Manly Local Court during a court appearance in 2023, where he appeared on charges for his part in ripping off a 93-year-old Mosman woman with dementia, using a bank card scam. Picture: Jim O'Rourke

A con man who ripped off vulnerable elderly women on Sydney’s north shore through elaborate bank card scams has been jailed.

Seu Fong Ao, 65, who police said was part of a “criminal fraud syndicate”, was convicted in Manly Local Court of fleecing a woman from Cammeray out of $2000 after she was conned into handing over her Visa debit card.

The victim was persuaded, over the phone, to give the card to Ao by another unidentified man posing as a NAB employee from the bank’s head office.

Ao, a pensioner from St Johns Park, then used the NAB card to buy $2000 worth of gift cards from a Woolworths supermarket on the North Shore, the court heard on Wednesday.

He pleaded guilty to one count each of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and dishonestly obtaining property by deception.

Seu Fong Ao, outside Manly Local Court in July 2023. Picture: Jim O'Rourke

Ao appeared by video link from Cessnock jail where he is currently serving an 18-month sentence for committing similar offences, the court was told.

The latest jail sentence comes after he was convicted in Manly court in late 2023 for his part in a scam that convinced a 93-year-old Mosman woman suffering with dementia to hand over her ATM card.

Manly court heard in July 2023 that the woman was tricked into handing over her card by a person posing as a bank manager from NAB.

The woman was told, during a series of telephone calls, that funds needed to be withdrawn from her account to “assist in fraud investigations”.

Ao withdrew a total of $4000 from her account via an ATM.

In the latest scam, the Cammeray woman was contacted on her mobile phone in January 2024 by a man with an Indian accent who was posing as a NAB employee from its head office.

According to a police facts sheet tendered to court, the man told the victim that there had been an unauthorised $2500 “overseas transaction” recorded on her NAB debit card account.

Seu Fong Ao was jailed. Picture: Jim O'Rourke

The man said he would close her account immediately and the bank would issue her with a new debit card. He said a NAB representative would come to her home and pick up the closed card.

The court heard that Ao turned up at her house at 7pm the same day, took the card from the woman and immediately went to the Woolies at Northbridge where he used it to buy $2000 worth of gift cards.

A real NAB employee contacted the woman soon after to check whether the purchase was authorised. The victim said no and police were contacted.

Officers managed to secure CCTV footage of Ao making the gift card purchases.

Magistrate Daniel Reiss convicted him on both charges and jailed him for three months.

Ao will be eligible for parole in April this year.